Blinis (Russian Pancakes)

When the weather gets cooler in the fall and entering the winter season, I start to crave blinis (savory Russian pancakes) with fish roe and all the fixings. This is a traditional fall dish in the Nordic (and Russia), when the fish roe was readily available and fresh.

They are traditionally served as an appetizer, but in modern diets when we eat less I feel they are filling enough to serve as a main dish. Most common topping is fish roe, sour cream, minced red onion and freshly ground black pepper, other toppings can be incorporated too for those who don’t like or eat fish roe. They can be served with cold smoked salmon, pickled herring or just vegetarian with diced gherkins or mushrooms. Different types of roe work too, though my favorite is white fish roe.

The batter takes some time as it needs to sit overnight but it definitely is worth the wait. This specific recipe I got from my sister in Finland.

Hope you will be adventurous enough to try these!

INGREDIENTS:

Day 1

2 1/2 dl Milk

1 tbsp Dry Yeast (one pouch)

2 dl Buckwheat Flour

1 tbsp Salt

1 tbsp Sugar

Day 2

The blini base from Day 1

1/2 a bottle of Lager Beer

2 Egg Yolks

2 dl Wheat Flour

2 Egg Whites

Stick of butter

For Serving:

Fish Roe

1 small Red Onion, minced

Sour Cream

Freshly ground Black Pepper

STEPS:
Day 1

Heat up the milk so it is lukewarm and mix in salt and sugar. Mix the yeast together with buckwheat flour and then add to milk. Cover with a clean cloth and let stand in warm place overnight. Make sure your bowl is big enough as the batter will enlarge.

Day 2

Add the beer, egg yolks and the wheat flour to the batter and mix until smooth. Whisk the egg whites until frothy and carefully fold into the batter. Let the batter stand for about 15 min.

Meanwhile warm the butter without letting it boil and pour the clarified butter to a different dish. You want to use the clarified butter for the pan.

Warm up a frying pan or griddle on medium heat and cook the blinis in the clarified butter until the top starts to bubble, then flip them over and cook the other side. Check on your heat so the pan doesn’t get too hot so the blinis won’t burn.

Serve immediately with the toppings.